Brain Injury

Los Angeles Brain Injury Attorneys

Brain Injury in California

A Brain Injury in California is arguably the most serious type of injury a person can sustain. Brain injuries often have major, long-lasting physical and cognitive effects, completely altering the victim’s way of life, as well as the lives of his or her family members and loved ones. When a brain injury results from a negligent act or accident, the victim and/or his or her family can take legal action by filing a personal injury claim against the at-fault person or party. It’s important that you reach out to an attorney who has experience handling catastrophic injury claims, as these cases are often complex and difficult to win. At Bral & Associates, we have a long history of success in handling even the toughest of claims; since 1997, we have successfully handled more than 5,000 personal injury cases and recovered more than $10 million for our clients. We know what is needed to win your brain injury case, and we have what it takes to fight for you and your recovery.

Brain Injury Facts You Need to Know

Unfortunately, brain injuries are some of the most common—and most deadly—injuries in the United States. The statistics regarding traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, are sobering:

Every 15 seconds, an individual in the US will endure a TBI.
There are approximately 1.4 million TBIs each year. Of them, 50,000 victims will pass away, 235,000 will be hospitalized, and over 80,000 will be left with life-long handicaps.
1.1 million people with traumatic brain injuries are cared for and discharged from emergency departments each year.
Men are about 1.5 times more likely to experience a TBI than women.
The two highest-risk age brackets are 0 to 4 and 15 to 19.
African-Americans have the highest death rate from TBI.
At least 5.3 million Americans (nearly 2% of the population) currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to accomplish activities associated with daily living resulting from TBI.
The CDC shows that there could possibly be 1.6 to 3.8 million sports-related traumatic brain injuries each year.
TBIs are the leading reason behind death and impairment among children and young adults.
The leading causes of traumatic brain injuries are falls (28%), motor vehicle accidents (20%), being struck or banging head against an object (19%), and assault (11%).
A brain injury brought about by a pistol is more likely to be fatal when compared with any other type of brain injury.
The lifelong expenses to take care of an individual with a TBI is projected to be somewhere between $600,000 and $1.8 million.

Common Causes of Traumatic Brain Injuries

A brain injury might take place when the brain forcefully strikes the inside of a person’s skull. Subsequently, the activity of the brain within the skull, a bone fracture to the skull, or hemorrhage around or in the brain might cause injury to the brain. The most common causes of brain injury reported by the CDC include the following:

Falls – 28%
Car accidents – 20%
Impact with a moving object – 19%
Assault/physical attacks – 11%

Most traumatic brain injuries are minor and may lead only to concussions. However, concussions can still be incredibly serious (especially when the victim has sustain prior concussions) and anyone who is suspected of having suffered one should see a doctor. More serious accidents, such as motor vehicle collisions, can result in more serious brain injuries.

Closed-Head Injuries vs Penetrating Injuries

Brain injuries are classified as either closed-head injuries or penetrating injuries. Closed-head injuries commonly happen due to powerful force, impact, or from being struck in the head by an object. A penetrating injury, on the other hand, occurs whenever an object penetrates the skull, which may drive tiny bits of bone or tissue into the brain. A gunshot wound is an example of penetrating head trauma.

Diffuse Injuries vs Focal Injuries

Brain injuries may also be categorized as diffuse or focal. Diffuse injuries include damage to several tiny locations of the brain. Diffuse injuries cause harm to the axons, or the connections that permit neural cells to talk with one another. Meanwhile, focal injuries are limited to a certain place of the brain. These injuries cause localized damage that is often discovered by x-rays or CT scans.

Types of Brain Injuries

Some common types of brain injuries include:

Diffuse Axonal Injury (DAI): This type of injury causes shearing or ripping of large nerve fibers, as well as stretching of blood vessels in numerous regions of the brain. This sort of injury may lead to hemorrhage and/or a buildup of dangerous substances in the brain in the days following the injury. Frontal and temporal lobes are very sensitive to this kind of injury. Symptoms of DAI include loss of vision, weakness on one side of the body, disorientation, loss of memory, and failure to focus on certain duties.
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE): This sort of injury causes swelling in the brain, which in turn restricts the circulation of blood, oxygen, glucose, and other nutrients.
Contusions: A contusion is the medical phrase for bruising. Contusions may cause inflammation, bleeding, and destruction of brain tissue. Contusions typically occur in the frontal and temporal lobes that house the memory and behavior centers of the brain. Contusions may also take place in the parietal and occipital lobes of the brain, even though these injuries happen less commonly. Symptoms of a brain contusion may include unusual sensations, alterations in behavior, total or partial loss of vision, decreased balance, weakness, and loss of memory. Contusions get smaller as inflammation subsides, but they might leave residual scar tissue. This could leave the victim with prolonged neurological damage.
Hemorrhage: Intracranial brain hemorrhage occurs any time blood escapes from an affected vessel into brain tissue. How large a hemorrhage might be varies from relatively small to very large. Problems that the patient will experience with a hemorrhage are generally based on the size and placement of the damage. Hemorrhage may appear in minutes or may not develop for hours or days.
Infarction: Infarction is a medical term used for stroke. Infarctions that develop due to TBI show up whenever an artery to the brain is compressed by the swelling of encompassing tissues. This keeps the blood circulation and oxygen to the brain cells. The majority of strokes that occur because of traumatic brain injuries impact the occipital and temporal lobes and cause vision loss or speech and language problems.
Hematoma: Hematomas involve bleeding on the outside of the brain. There are several different types of hematomas, outlined below:
- Subdural Hematomas: Subdural hematomas involve slow hemorrhaging outside the brain. They are a result of injury to a blood vessel carrying deoxygenated blood. They may grow slowly and gradually. Should they become large enough, they can apply stress on the brain, creating the need for surgery to drain the collected blood and get rid of the pressure.
- Epidural Hematoma: An epidural hematoma occurs outside the brain. They are the effect of a leaking artery. A large epidural hematoma can cause pressure to build up very rapidly because arteries carry blood under pressure. An EDH requires immediate surgery to relieve pressure and prevent death or irreversible neurological damage.
- Subarachnoid Hematoma: This type of injury entails a small amount of blood loss distributed over the surface of the brain. This small amount of bleeding may have little significance and will likely cause no damage.

Hiring a Brain Injury Lawyer

Because the consequences of a brain injury are so immense, nuanced, and far-reaching, pursuing a brain injury claim can be very complex. It’s important that you work with a legal team that has access to medical experts who can testify as to the severity of your injury and the many ways in which it has affected and will continue to affect your life. At Bral & Associates, we often work with a team of experts and specialists in order to build a comprehensive case on your behalf. Our Los Angeles brain injury lawyers understand that you need compensation for not only your immediate damages but your future and ongoing costs, as well. We take all of this into account when building your case and advocating for your maximum recovery. Throughout the process, we never lose sight of the fact that you are a real person, with real questions and concerns, facing real challenges. We intentionally limit our caseload in order to be better able to provide each and every client with the personalized care, attention, and support they deserve. We are always available to take your call and provide consistent communication on the status of your case.